A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain

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Before consulting with customer service, it's always a good idea to read the manual. Psychiatrist John Ratey has condensed years of research on one of the most intimidating yet ubiquitous pieces of hardware in the world into the ever-handy User's Guide to the Brain. More intellectually stimulating than day-to-day practical, the Guide uses tales from Ratey's practice and other clinical venues, tidbits from neuroscientific research, and plain common sense to suggest how the brain develops and manifests personality and behavior. With section titles like "Free Will and the Anterior Cingulate Gyrus," many readers will feel intimidated, but Ratey is careful to direct his explanations to all--even those without a PhD in neuroanatomy. His interesting four-theater theory of mental function is the most directly practical section of the book, incorporating the author's years of experience with patients into a sensible framework that readers can use to better tune their own systems. Describing the changing of the guard from psychoanalysis to a more biological paradigm, Ratey writes: Neuroscientists have, in a sense, simply taken over the elite, almost clerical office once held by analysts. The language used to describe the brain is, if anything, more opaque than any of the old psychoanalytic terminology, which was itself so obscure that only trained professionals could wade through the literature. Most people never even bother to learn such terminology, deeming that, like the language of the computer scientists of the early 1970s, it is better left to the nerds. Determined to help us overcome our sense of helplessness in matters cranial, Ratey has shown that we can understand ourselves better and can learn quite a bit from the nerds. --Rob Lightner


From Library Journal
New developments in brain research seem to be constantly announced these days, so a competent description of the latest results for the lay reader is always welcome. Ratey, a specialist in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, organizes his material by functional categoryDdevelopment, perception, attention, memory, emotion, language, and socialization. The "Four Theaters" of the subtitle don't appear until the penultimate chapter, where the metaphor is confusingly mixed with that of the brain as a river. The final chapter, "Care and Feeding," makes the expected suggestions for keeping the brain sharp: physical and mental exercise, good nutrition, and the positive impact of spirituality on mental health. Pierce J. Howard's The Owner's Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind-Brain Research (Bard Pr., 2000. 2d ed.) is a better choice, although A User's Guide would be an acceptable addition for larger public libraries.DMary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The recent feats of neuroscientists in penetrating the secrets of the brain have unfortunately been shrouded in an opaque technical vocabulary. Harvard psychiatrist Ratey translates those discoveries into the common idiom, thus allowing nonspecialists to peer into the brain's complex inner workings. The metaphor of four mental theaters clears away much of the complexity and renders comprehensible the process by which raw perception passes into consciousness, then into language and memory, and ultimately into personality and introspection. But to understand fully how the brain works, we need to see how it breaks down: in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), for instance, the malfunction of pleasure neurotransmitters indirectly reveals their role in normal brain activity. Ratey offers hope that psychological disorders resistant to traditional therapies may yield to new approaches premised on a deeper understanding of brain dynamics. Far more than a map of the brain's exotic jungles, this study can serve as a life-enriching guide for keeping the richest mental fields in cultivation. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
?[A]n introduction to neuroscience which sticks to a man-on-the-street vocabulary.? --The New Yorker

?Will explain that mysterious space between your ears . . . in an accessible way.? --Psychology Today

?Excellent. . . . Ratey takes the reader on a wondrous journey.? --The Providence Sunday Journal


Book Description
John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain’s workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.

In A User’s Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.


Download Description
Bringing order and relevance to the cascade of recent brain-search findings, the author makes clear how the brain responds to the guidance of the user.


Book Info
Explains the structure and chemistry of the brain; how its systems shape perceptions, emotions, actions, and reactions; and how the brain responds to the guidance of its user. Includes examples from the author's practice and discusses the act of perception, the filters of attention, the array of options, and behavior and identity. For consumers.


From the Inside Flap
John Ratey, bestselling author and clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, here lucidly explains the human brain's workings, and paves the way for a better understanding of how the brain affects who we are. Ratey provides insight into the basic structure and chemistry of the brain, and demonstrates how its systems shape our perceptions, emotions, and behavior. By giving us a greater understanding of how the brain responds to the guidance of its user, he provides us with knowledge that can enable us to improve our lives.In A User's Guide to the Brain, Ratey clearly and succinctly surveys what scientists now know about the brain and how we use it. He looks at the brain as a malleable organ capable of improvement and change, like any muscle, and examines the way specific motor functions might be applied to overcome neural disorders ranging from everyday shyness to autism. Drawing on examples from his practice and from everyday life, Ratey illustrates that the most important lesson we can learn about our brains is how to use them to their maximum potential.


From the Back Cover
“[A]n introduction to neuroscience which sticks to a man-on-the-street vocabulary.” --The New Yorker

“Will explain that mysterious space between your ears . . . in an accessible way.” --Psychology Today

“Excellent. . . . Ratey takes the reader on a wondrous journey.” --The Providence Sunday Journal


About the Author
John Ratey lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.


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